Only if I had listened...

By Harold Maesulia. Follow me on twitter.



"[Leonard] was groomed to read and write at the village school."

Author's note: The name used in this story is fictitious and any relation to any living person is coincidental. The author observes true experiences of a number of people and compiles them into a single story. Set in in his own local Malaitan village in the beautiful isles of Solomon Islands, it takes place with an imaginary family scene to herald what sometimes happens to local kids when they break free from the watchful eyes of their parents to attain higher education in distance schools. Its sole aim is for education and should be portrayed as such.

 The sweaty break he had within minutes of gasping for breath, as if he's a frightened child yelling for dear life, told him that he is heading up that way again.

It’s been a rough 6 months. All these months life was nothing but half-filled plates of white rice and noodles, lonesome nights of aching empty stomachs, and days of swaying oneself to the tough school rules.

Surely those tribulations will now be put to rest for some refreshing 4 weeks for it’s yet another school break from the tiring secondary school life he's been carving himself to for the last 5 years. The way up the stiff bush track was once exciting to him as a child but now it is seemed like vinegar forced down his throat. The thought of his peers from school overrode the joy he once had for life in the village.

Everyone knew the green hills and have come to call it the “sweaty highway” for its steepness had in it litres of sweaty sessions because of the energy that must be shed before one gets home. Whether one likes it or not that's the only way to get to his highland habitat because truck-accessed road is not a fantasy there.

He was born and bred in Okwala, a highland village in central Malaita which is many miles from where he’s resting now. Even at the tender age of 5, with barely a thread on his body, he had walked his gut out yielding to life the way it is done up there and groomed to read and write at the village school before finding himself where he had just come back from.

Now 17, Leonard Maefasia (not his real name) had grown some muscles which he confidently offered to have them on show by half covering them with an sleeveless t-shirt. He cut the long sleeves off so that his biceps could enjoy the attention of others, which to him would be the young girls in the village. You should see how much effort he had put into developing those, from press-ups to lifting bricks at the school. He was determined as if that was going to be life for him.

When he set off for form one at Su’u National Secondary School in 2000, his tearful parents fare-welled him with a hearty lecture loaded with stern warnings. Just as hard as seeing their only boy depart for boarding school, finding ways to keep him at school would certainly be a job they would sweat their guts out to attain. An old bare-footed gray haired man, bare-chested and sun tanned to a highly brown color came up to him and spoke softly into his right ear, “Son this is our investment for you, I will do all I can to find ways to earn money to keep your a-thousand dollar plus fee paid each year.”

He was childish when he set out from home, he cried bitterly like a helpless piece of ice in the steaming sun. The comfort he received from fellow roommates didn't hit him with consolation. And it was a month long transition for the country boy as he found his way through the burden of missing home.

But succumbing to the might of puberty came with little notice and he easily found himself becoming drawn to peers of his age. They entertained themselves with topics to excite their vulnerable minds that they frequently butted heads with the school prefects.

Although he managed a few A grades during his early years in secondary school, something startling emerged and gripped Leo, shaking him to step on and put behind him the values he learned as a little kid. That was the day he thought to himself that the world was his and he could step off the barrier he is barred as a son in the village based on the new found ideologies the light of classroom education handed him.

With the combination of modern thoughts peppered with some traditional lifestyles sprouted self-attained freedom for young Leo to explore on new talking habits.

In June 2004 the highlands of central Kwara’ae was unlucky. There was mud everywhere because rain has been falling for weeks.Not much had changed in the village though; you could still appreciate the intricate sky and flocks of morning birds singing noisily in the morning. But he had little appreciation for the quietness in the village. Because of his changed morals, he is no longer a fun little boy mom used to know, he now talks like a master and loves flirting with arguments that he always comes up with a lot of bizarre ideas making himself look like a power-hungry prime minister on a sprawl trying to win the attention of parliament. His illiterate parents knew little of the fact that Leo is trying to tell everyone that education to him is better than the custom ways.

Dad's smoking pipe was used to be a piece of iron to Leo, but now when the gray haired old man smokes around him, he would get up and leave.

But dad’s world has never been any better. From sharing an evening joke with old village folks to working tirelessly like a busy ant alongside mom on the family food garden, he still remains the same happy old man well known to everyone as the joker who never goes without a smile on his face.

Mom’s no different either. She still wakes up at cockcrow to cook a pot of Kumara for everyone to break the night long fast with. And at around 7 am, she’d be off to church for morning devotion, comes back and sets everyone for the same old Kumara morning feed before hitting the road for another day at the vegetable garden.

Leo used to be a small boy who accompanies his two sisters after school to help his parents in the garden. But now he feels more grown up and thinks that he should be allowed to decide on what to do. His holiday job now starts at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. He would start off with a few press ups in his room to wake up his biceps, and then off he goes for an evening game of soccer.

Time for the family now tussles with his puberty-driven life.An exciting time for him now is a big gathering in the village like a Saint Day because nearby villagers would come and join the celebration. When the evening segment of the program is in progress, beardless Leo would be seen standing at the dark corners eyeing the young girls.

Standing alongside gray-haired old men like his dad is something he now dislikes becasue he thinks he is better looking than them.

Gradually, the much talked about charming attitudes Leo used to has as a kid didn't catch the eyes of fellow villagers. From his ignorance of wise counsel from parents to being more close to the Maruana users of the village, he continues to be regarded as a good boy who decides to wreck his own life with the fantasies of life.

Four weeks passed and SIBC carried the service message for the return of students at Su’u. He received it with much excitement because finally he would be away from the watchful eyes of his parents. Childhood life was hard and he used to get it from his parents when he did something wrong but now that he has grown up, such moments are less frequent.

When the delight of returning to school glossed his mind like a colorful paint, news got home 2 days before departure, Agnes a girl in his class got pregnant and the Principal advised Leo not to return to school.

“Leo, what we've given you is supposed not to be given back to us. It’s yours to keep,” his dad regrouped himself to out pour his disappointment.

“I was so afraid to let anything happen to my one and only boy but in the course of doing so I just couldn't bear seeing my dear son being engulfed by the pressures of a young man’s life. I had tried my best to offer counsel from my poor man’s seat, but the son born of my very own blood has already driven miles away to even lend me an ear. I've tried to catch you but the song of becoming a father has finally done so,” said the tearful daddy.

The shocked Leo felt as if nothing was there to hide his body. He might be thoughtless before but that day something punctuated his life with regret for being stubborn.

His life now will be the norm he mastered during childhood. The dream of becoming a journalist now rests in the gutter. He will now work hard to earn a living. He felt as if he has operated a machine without reading the manufacturer's manual.

Now when sweat comes from trekking the hills finding his luck to grow something in the gardens, he knows too well that the load will be doubled because someone else is there for him to support.

He knows too well now that he is no longer single and that life  is now on the serious part.

The thought of being a father as a teenager brought tears to his eyes. The tears felt more bitter than those he had when he first left home for Su’u.

“Only if I had listened at the first place, I wouldn't be sitting here crying!”

Special thanks to Jane Kanas for editing part of the story.